Nearly 200 Dallas police and fire workers tested positive for COVID-19 amidst the surge caused by the Omicron variant,The Dallas Morning News reported.
The Dallas Police Department and Dallas Fire-Rescue said the infected workers are quarantined.
More than three-quarters (155) of the infected first-responders are from Dallas Fire and Rescue. Jason Evans, a spokesman for the fire department, said this was the highest number of fire staff the department has had out at the same time. In July, the department reported 29 cases, with 76 cases in August and 59 in September.
Police senior corporal Brian Martinez of the DPD said that 44 workers in the department have tested positive for COVID-19 so far in the first week of the year. Of that number, 36 are police officers, while eight are civilians.
Since March last year, 1,051 workers, 881 of whom are police officers, have been infected with the virus, said Martinez, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Evans said 1,065 police, fire, and city marshal staff were given booster shots in October and November.
Catherine Cuellar, a spokesperson for the city of Dallas, said that it is unclear how many of the roughly 13,000 city employees are currently infected with the virus because it is not being tracked. Cueller also noted that some workers whose jobs can be done remotely have been ordered to work outside their offices.